AIB Leinster club SHC: Late Cody goal saves Ballyhale
Eoin Cody leads the charge of celebration after his late goal saved Ballyhale Shamrocks from their first championship knockout defeat since 2017.
AIB Leinster senior club championship semi-final
BALLYHALE SHAMROCKS 3-24 ST. RYNAGH’S 2-18 after extra time
Kevin Egan at Bord na Móna O’Connor Park
The reigning AIB All-Ireland club champions are still alive, but only just. It took a 63rd minute goal from Eoin Cody to keep them alive this afternoon in Tullamore, as Offaly champions St. Rynagh’s recovered from a devastating start, including the concession of two early goals, to take a three point lead in the closing stretches of a remarkable contest at Tullamore.
The four-time Leinster champions from Banagher just had 30 seconds of the three additional minutes to see out when Richie Reid floated the ball into the St. Rynagh’s goalmouth from a 65, and when the home side failed to get a clearance away, and once the sliothar spilled to the deck, the resultant scramble saw it break out to Cody, whose first time pull sent the game to extra time.
Ballyhale, who had lost Joe Cuddihy to a first half red card, were restored to 15 men for the additional time and they seemed energised by their reprieve, going on to cut through their crestfallen opponents with ease. TJ Reid, Eoin Cody and Adrian Mullen all shot a brace of points each as they outscored St. Rynagh’s by 0-11 to 0-2 in additional time to set up a Leinster final date with Clough-Ballacolla next Sunday in Croke Park.
A nine-point margin was roughly what most pundits expected coming into this game, as St. Rynagh’s spluttered rather than surged across the finish line in their knockout games in Offaly. The opening exchanges seemed to confirm that view, as Ballyhale cut through them with ease, rattling in two early goals. Cody short the first from a tight angle, followed by a close range flick from Colin Fennelly that diverted Cuddihy’s shot past Conor Clancy.
Brian Cody, Eoin Cody and Evan Shefflin all fired over additional points to stretch the gap out to nine points, 2-6 to 0-3, at the first half water break, and it seemed like it was going to be plain sailing from there.
Gradually however, St. Rynagh’s dug their heels in and some good use of the ball up front meant that they started to pick off scores, even though Simon Óg Lyons, who started the game in the forward line, had dropped back to play as sweeper.
Stephen Quirke ended the game with just a single point to his credit but he was exemplary in his use of the ball, setting up a string of points for his brother Paul and then laying off to Luke O’Connor, who surprised everyone by applying a burst of pace and then batting the ball into the bottom corner of the net from 15 metres out.
Paul Quirke fired over four points from play for St. Rynagh's this afternoon.
Having dragged themselves back into contention, St. Rynagh’s were given a further boost when Joe Cuddihy came in late to a tackle and made contact with the head of Matthew Maloney, leading referee Chris Mooney to consult with his linesman and eventually show a straight red card to the Ballyhale wing forward just before half-time.
That proved to be a game changer as St. Rynagh’s use of the extra man was absolutely exemplary. Stephen Wynne picked up a series of short puckouts and hoovered up any amount of loose long deliveries, while some uncharacteristically poor shooting from the Ballyhale forwards also contributed to St. Rynagh’s chipping away at the lead and drawing level by the second half water break, 2-11 to 1-14.
The sense of an impending upset really descended on O’Connor Park when at the start of the final quarter, Aaron Kenny picked up a dropping ball in the right corner and played it across to Ronan Hughes, who found the net from close range to put the Offaly side three points up.
Scores continued to be hard to come by for the remainder of the game but it looked like two further Luke O’Connor points was going to be enough to see them home, given that Ballyhale Shamrocks seemed unable to create the goal chance they badly needed.
It turned out that there was one in the pipeline, and it proved to be the difference between the All-Ireland champions marching on, and probably the biggest upset of the club season so far.
Scorers for Ballyhale Shamrocks: Eoin Cody 2-3, TJ Reid 0-7 (0-5f), Adrian Mullen 0-5, Brian Cody 0-3, Colin Fennelly 1-0, Evan Shefflin 0-2, Ronan Corcoran 0-2, Eoin Kenneally 0-1, Eoin Reid 0-1.
Scorers for St. Rynagh’s: Luke O’Connor 1-8 (0-6f), Ronan Hughes 1-2, Paul Quirke 0-4, Aidan Treacy 0-3 (0-2f), Stephen Quirke 0-1.
Ballyhale Shamrocks: Dean Mason; Kevin Mullen, Joey Holden, Brian Butler; Evan Shefflin, Richie Reid, Darragh Corcoran; Ronan Corcoran, Eoin Kenneally; Adrian Mullen, Eoin Cody, Joe Cuddihy; Brian Cody, Colin Fennelly, TJ Reid.
Subs: Patrick Mullen for Kenneally (49), Darren Mullen for Butler (52), Eoin Reid (15th man for ET), Eoin Kenneally for Fennelly (62), Conor Phelan for Shefflin (70)
St. Rynagh’s: Conor Clancy; Conor Hernon, Pat Camon, Stephen Wynne; Matthew Maloney, Ben Conneely, Dermot Shortt; Joseph O'Connor, Aidan Treacy; Paul Quirke, Simon Óg Lyons, Garry Conneely; Luke O'Connor, Séan Dolan, Stephen Quirke.
Subs: Ronan Hughes for Camon (3), Aaron Kenny for G Conneely (41), Ciarán Flannery for S Quirke (60+1), S Quirke for Flannery (full-time), C Flannery for S Quirke (69), Niall Wynne for Kenny (69), Brian Rigney for Lyons (76).
Referee: Chris Mooney (Dublin).
